


Sleepless in Groveton, Indiana

by etcetera_kit



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-22
Updated: 2012-12-22
Packaged: 2017-11-22 01:32:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/604345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/etcetera_kit/pseuds/etcetera_kit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean can only sleep well when Cas is close to him. And he hates it. Sort of.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sleepless in Groveton, Indiana

**Author's Note:**

  * For [silver_lametta](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=silver_lametta).



> Thanks to my wolf pack for alpha and beta reading! Happy holidays, silver_lametta! The prompt was great!

**Sleepless in Groveton, Indiana**

Dean let out a long breath as late night television changed from infomercials to soft core porn. He’d had a fifth of whiskey and a Vicodin, the latter being for his shoulder, which he’d dislocated again. His body was beyond exhausted, but sleep remained elusive.

And he knew why.

Fuck.

He wasn’t sure how they’d gotten themselves into this messy predicament, but he was pretty sure this whole thing started when, three weeks out of Hell, Dean woke up to Cas sitting on the side of his bed, asking him what he was dreaming about. Since then, didn’t seem to matter if Cas was falling, at full angel powers, stuffed full of souls from Purgatory or batshit crazy—Dean couldn’t sleep, or at least not sleep well, unless Cas was in the same room. Despite all the crap that happened in Purgatory, part of the reason that Dean had been so desperate to find Cas was so he could finally sleep and not get killed because of exhaustion. Of course, he’d never tell Benny or Sam or anyone else about that.

And he hadn’t slept well since Cas appeared again—out of Purgatory and in need of some serious rest. Dean slept like a rock during those two weeks where Cas was back and hanging around with them, wanting to be a hunter. Then the damn angel decided to stay at the nursing home.

Okay, so maybe this whole thing was a little bit Dean’s fault. Just a little. He’d never told Cas that he only really slept when the angel was around—he just assumed that the angel _knew._ But the last four years should have told him that wasn’t the case. Cas clearly didn’t know, otherwise, he might had stayed with them more often. Cas had an annoying tendency to do whatever Dean wanted, right when Dean wanted him to do something else so he could pick a fight. Stupid angel.

“You’re hurt.”

Dean blinked, momentarily startled, but not really surprised. Cas had appeared, sitting on the bed next to him.

“Warn a guy,” Dean snapped with no real fire. He swung his legs off the bed and got up, ostensibly to go get the bottle of whiskey from the counter next to the sink.

He could feel Cas’ eyes tracking his movements as he got the bottle and a clean glass, and then moved back to the bed. As he approached, Cas turned towards the TV and frowned.

“What are you watching?”

Dean dropped heavily onto the bed. “Porn,” he replied shortly. “You like porn. You should have no problem with this.”

Cas’ frown deepened. “This is not porn.”

“It’s soft core porn.”

“Soft core?”

“Because it doesn’t get you hard.”

“Oh.”

Weirdly, Cas looked like he understood. Dean leaned back against the headboard of the bed. Cas leaned over and plucked the whiskey and the glass from his hands. “Hey!” he protested weakly, but didn’t press the issue as Cas set both on the nightstand and turned back to him. He was staring at Dean with that intense gaze that made Dean feel like he could see right through him. Cas then laid a hand on his shoulder. The dull, throbbing pain disappeared.

Cas removed his hand. Dean rolled his shoulder experimentally—not even a twinge. “Thanks,” he said, giving Cas an appraising look. “You going to give me my whiskey back?”

“No.” Cas gave him a sidelong look. “You drink too much.”

“So do you.”

“Not anymore. Takes too much to get drunk.”

“Don’t want to commit crimes anymore?”

“What?”

“Never mind.”

Dean let his attention wander back to the TV. The soft core porn horror movie had gotten past the ridiculous porn part and devolved into the artificial arterial spray and fake screams. Still lots of exposed silicon, but he’d have rather been watching an infomercial about things that chop vegetables and pennies. At least the people on trying to sell those things were remotely interested in their product. This was just terrible.

He turned back to Cas. “You all right?” he asked. “I thought you were hanging out elsewhere for the time being.”

Cas shrugged. “I felt your pain.”

“My pain?”

“Your shoulder.”

“Oh.” He paused. “How long are you staying here?”

“A few days.”

He tried not to visibly relax at that admission. If Cas was going to be around, then he might actually get some sleep. When Cas wasn’t around and he did manage to fall asleep, his dreams were plagued with broken nightmares and memories. Between Hell and Purgatory, he had too much baggage. But with Cas around, he fell into dreamless sleep, uninterrupted by a visceral reaction to the horror. And there was no way he was going to tell Cas any of that. The angel didn’t need Dean being needy on top of all the other shit that had gone down.

“You need to sleep.”

Dean turned to Cas, a little surprised, before nodding in agreement.

“Why were you not sleeping when I arrived? You were in pain, but it was not great enough to prevent you from resting.”

“It’s the great television that’s on this late.” Dean tried for a shit-eating grin and wobbled. He hoped Cas wouldn’t notice.

But the goddamn angel did.

“I can put you to sleep,” Cas suggested, raising two fingers.

Dean exhaled shakily. “Sure.” Then he tossed out, “Besides, even you think this movie is shit.”

The angel definitely suspected more, from his frown and head-tilt, but he, thankfully, didn’t pursue the issue. He just pressed two fingers to Dean’s forehead.

\--------------------

When Dean woke up, the bright mid-morning sun was streaming through the motel room windows. Cas had obviously rearranged him into a better sleeping position, because he was lying on his side, under the blankets on the bed. He’d considered Cas a friend for a long time, practically family at one point in time. Things had been rocky between them since Cas made a deal with Crowley and briefly appointed himself the new God, resulting the leviathans being released, but they were getting back to equilibrium. Purgatory helped with that.

But Cas had always looked at him with heat that was just _more_ than being a friend. All of Dean’s relationships ended badly—no exceptions. He couldn’t start something with Cas—there was just too much crap between them, having sex or being in an exclusive relationship would just make them more vulnerable.

The one time Cas had kissed him, he’d gently let the angel down.

_“Cas, we can’t do this. I can’t lose you too.”_

But he had lost, hadn’t he? The angel died twice for him, dove headfirst into the scheme with Crowley to protect Dean, went to Purgatory… everything Cas had done had been for him and if that wasn’t some kind of epic fantasy love story, he wasn’t sure what was. But actually admitting that and taking the plunge? No. They absolutely were not going to do that. Cassie had left him. Anna got her grace and became a full-fledged angel again. He’d had Cas wipe Lisa’s memory of him, for fuck’s sake. Nothing lasted, nothing at all. Their existence was too fragile and, in the dark of night, he’d admit that he didn’t want the next time he saw Cas to be the last.

He glanced at his watch. 9:30.

Shit.

Sammy was still somewhere in Texas, dealing with all the crap with Amelia that Dean had dragged up. And Cas was nowhere to be found. Great.

He needed to move on—find another hunt. Or check in with Kevin and his mom. He had things to do, but couldn’t bring himself to get out of bed just yet. He was warm and comfortable and had slept well for the first time since Cas left.

“Dean.”

Cas was standing near the kitchenette. Sighing, Dean pushed the covers off himself and sat up. “You actually stayed here.”

“Yes.” Cas’ expression clearly said that he wasn’t sure what else he was supposed to do. “I went for a moment to check on the protections around you and Sam, but that only took a moment.” He paused, blue eyes scrutinizing Dean. “You haven’t sleep.”

“You’re suicidal,” Dean shot back.

Cas let out a long breath. “If I return to Heaven, I fear my own emotions.” He kept his gaze steady and on Dean. “We are not talking about me. Why are you not sleeping?”

“I don’t sleep well, Cas. You know that.”

“When I’ve been around, you sleep well.”

“I don’t know what to tell you.” Dean was not going to admit that he slept well when Cas was around. He hated being so dependent on one being for a basic need. Almost.

Cas crossed the room and sat on the edge of Dean’s bed. He smelled like rain and ozone—clean and fresh and reassuring. When had Dean ever had something that reassured him so much as Cas’ scent? The angel was a rock, keeping him from drowning. Maybe they were keeping each other afloat, which made it even stupider that he wouldn’t start a relationship. Oh well, he never claimed to be rational or take what he wanted, for once.

The angel appeared to be deep in thought, before speaking slowly. “I will be sure to come to you when you are about to sleep.”

“What?”

“You sleep well when I am around. My time is my own now. It is not a burden to be here when you are sleeping.”

“You don’t have to do that!” Dean protested.

“No, but I want to. You need rest. We have much work ahead of us.”

“Cas—“

“My mind is made up. I will see you tonight.”

And the angel disappeared.

Dean sagged back onto the bed. So Cas had finally figured out one part of this equation—Dean hoped he didn’t piece together the other part. Oh, who was he kidding? He wanted Cas around. And the angel was going to be around more. He just hated the thought of Cas watching him sleep. Almost. It was creepy. In a really sweet way. Oh hell.

Maybe one day he’d grow some balls and admit he was in love with Cas.


End file.
